A Conroe Leader With A Servant’s Heart
Story Submitted By Larry Foerster
It was December 8, 1941. Conroe businessman and mayor, Thomas Earle Gentry, wept as he read the headlines of the Conroe Courier. He learned that the day before, the Japanese had bombed the American naval port at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was obvious to him that another bloody world war involving his country had begun.
“Mr Earle” — as many locals affectionately but respectfully called him—had served in the United States Army during World War I, and he instinctively understood the personal sacrifices that American men and women would be making in the years to follow. His sense of patriotism and honor welled up inside of him. At age 45, he was prepared without any hesitation to leave his wife, young daughter and his family business in Conroe to once again accept the call to serve his country. Service to others was and would continue to be the hallmark of Mr Earle’s life.
Thomas Earle Gentry
* * * * *
Thomas Earle Gentry was born on May 9, 1896 on the small family farm about eight miles north of Montgomery, Texas. The farm was located along an old dirt road that is now designated as FM 149. He was very proud of his family heritage. Mr. Gentry’s grandfather married one of the Shannon daughters who were early settlers in the Montgomery and Dobbin areas. His grandfather had served in the Republic of Texas Army at age 14, tending livestock during the Battle of San Jacinto. His father, Thomas Shannon Gentry, joined a Texas Ranger company as a young man. His first assignment was in the Texas Panhandle where he policed theft and dealt with local Indian problems.<>1</>
Returning home to Montgomery County, Thomas Shannon Gentry was employed as a county road overseer, responsible for summoning men to help maintain the county roads. In that day, every man in the community was responsible for working up to five days per year to keep the county road along his property maintained and free from fallen trees and other debris. His mother, Antoinette Boozer Caughman Gentry, was educated in South Carolina and came to Texas where she met his father and they were married.2
When interviewed in 1986 at age 90, Earle Gentry described his country home as a “little one-horse farm,” where his family raised cattle and hogs. Money was scarce. The family farm provided an opportunity for hunting deer and other wild game, an activity that Mr. Gentry enjoyed throughout his life.3 Since he lived several miles from the nearest school in Montgomery, most of his early education was at home provided by his educated mother Antoinette Gentry, who used books that had been shipped to her from her sister in South Carolina. His mother taught him until he was twenty years old.4
Earle Gentry was raised in a rural Texas county that was still recovering from the Civil War and the Reconstruction period that followed. While Montgomery County escaped much of the strife that many other Texas counties experienced during Reconstruction, local white citizens nevertheless chafed under local Republican rule, and there were isolated acts of violence and intimidation directed at African Americans. By the early 1870s the white citizens had once more gained control of the county’s affairs, managing to effectively disenfranchise the black population for several generations.5 Earle Gentry was raised in this Southern political climate and would be a lifelong devoted “yellow dog Democrat” — meaning he faithfully voted a straight Democratic party ticket regardless who was on the ballot.6
Like most of the counties in the state during Earle Gentry’s youth, Montgomery County experienced a prolonged post war agricultural depression. During the Civil War, prices for cotton had skyrocketed, and landowners had planted ever increasing amounts of land in cotton in order to reap the benefits. After the war falling prices and the loss of cheap slave labor combined to severely depress the local economy. To make ends meet, many landowners opted to grow even more cotton, in the process badly depleting the soil. By the 1880s the soil in many areas of the county was so poor that cotton yields were as low as one-third to three-quarters of a bale per acre. Some farmers turned to raising livestock or small grain crops, such as corn and wheat. But nevertheless, cotton remained the county’s leading cash crop until the end of the century.7
By the time Earle Gentry had reached adulthood, Montgomery County in 1910 had a population of about 15,679. The 1914 Texas Almanac described the county as primarily agrarian, with farmers growing cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, peanuts and fruits such as peaches, pears and plums. Willis grew excellent prize-winning tobacco, along with abundant crops of cabbage and tomatoes that were shipped by railroad to Houston and on to the East Coast. The livestock industry was also a major segment of the local economy, particularly in west Montgomery County where large tracts of land had been operated by ranching families going back to the days of the pre-Texas Republic in the early 1830s.8 The construction of the railroads in the 1870s marked the beginning of Montgomery County’s great lumbering boom. The International and Great Northern Railroad intersected the county from south to north, and soon followed the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad which crossed the county from west to east. Sawmill communities dotted the landscape along these railroad lines, harvesting the plentiful pine tree growth. Commercial lumbering had begun in the county prior to the Civil War, but the lack of easy access to river or rail transportation had severely hampered efforts to exploit the area’s rich timber resources.9
With the arrival of the railroads, however, lumbering quickly developed into a major industry. By 1882, 45 steam sawmills were in operation across the county; within a short time, lumbering emerged as the county’s largest source of income. The lumber boom gave rise to numerous new communities, including Bobville, Cowl Spur, Dobbin, Egypt, Fostoria, Honea, Karen, Keenan, Mostyn, Leonidas, Timber and Security, all of which developed as lumber shipping points or mill sites. The boom also helped to transform the county in other ways. As late as the early 1870s, 80 percent of the county was still covered by thick pine forests. Over the next four decades much of the county was deforested, permanently altering the landscape and opening the way for a steady increase in livestock raising and farming.9 One of these sawmill communities came to be known as Conroe, named for Isaac Conroe, a sawmill operator and businessman who began operating his nearby lumber business in 1891.10
With Conroe at the intersection of two major railroads, it was a convenient and logical place for a county seat. In 1889 the county seat was moved from the town of Montgomery to Conroe. A brick courthouse and a brick jail were constructed in downtown Conroe. The town grew into the largest community in Montgomery County. Drawn by the railroads and county government activity, new mercantile stores and other businesses opened around the courthouse square.11 The lumber industry was a major part of the economy through the early 1900s, with saw mills in Conroe, Fostoria, and Waukegan until much of the virgin pine forests had been cut. Vegetable farms and ranching operations also continued to be important to the local economy at that time.12 With the growth of Conroe as a major commercial and governmental center for the county, it would be a logical place for a young, ambitious man like Earle Gentry to eventually settle. Montgomery County’s agricultural economy, which had been on the wane since the Civil War, began to recover in the 1880s. Spurring its growth was the introduction of tobacco, which was planted in large quantities in the 1890s. Much of the tobacco was a fine grade variety known as Vuelta Abajo, grown from seeds imported each year from Cuba. The center of the industry was Willis, which by 1895 had seven cigar factories. Willis tobacco won international competitions in 1893 at the Chicago World Expo and in 1900 at the World’s Fair in France. But high railroad shipping costs and the high initial investment and labor involved in curing and sweating the tobacco discouraged many farmers; between 1898 and 1901 the amount of land producing tobacco fell dramatically from more than 1,000 acres to only 70. The subsequent lifting of a United States tariff on Cuban tobacco, which had kept prices artificially high, finally ended the grand experiment. Within a few years virtually no tobacco was being grown in Montgomery County.13
The agricultural economy stagnated at the turn of the century, but by 1910 it began to show slow but steady growth. Between 1910 and 1920 the number of farms in the county increased from 1,855 to 1,932, and the amount of improved acreage grew from 62,234 to 80,605. Although cotton and corn continued to be grown in considerable quantities, many farmers after 1910 turned to truck farming, growing fruits and vegetables for the ever-expanding cities on the coast. Farm production gradually increased after the turn of the century, and by the early 1920s, agricultural receipts in some areas reached new highs. The period, however, also witnessed high land prices that forced many farmers into tenancy. By 1910 nearly half of all farmers (898 of 1,855) were tenants, many of them barely making a living. The trend was particularly pronounced among African Americans, who made up more than half (540) of the tenant farmers. While tenancy rates fell somewhat during the relatively prosperous years of the 1920s, fully half of those farming in 1930 were still working someone else’s land, and most had few resources to endure hard times.14
Despite the upswing in farming, lumbering remained the county’s primary industry after 1900. In 1914 the Delta Land and Timber Company built a mill in Conroe, which at the time was the most modern sawmill in the state and one of the largest in the South. The lumbering industry also gave rise to many related businesses, including box and cross tie factories, which flourished during the 1910s and early 1920s. Timbering remained the area’s principal source of income during the early 1920s, but by the end of the decade it was in steep decline, largely because most of the best stands of timber had been cut. The lack of available timber forced many of the mills to close, and many smaller lumbering communities were abandoned. By the late 1920s large numbers of former lumber workers were leaving the county to seek work elsewhere.15
During her interview with her husband in 1986, Iola Gentry recalled the devastating fire of February 1911 in downtown Conroe, during which over 65 wooden structures were destroyed. Soon after the fire stopped and the ashes were cooling, tractors were brought in to clean up the debris and brick building construction commenced almost immediately.16 It was during this time that Mr. A. L. Koonce constructed the building that would later be known as the Gentry Building. Other buildings along Main Street and Simonton Street also were constructed shortly after the fire. This included the Randolph Building, where Mrs. Gentry’s father and brothers operated their Everett Cash and Carry mercantile store.17
In 1916, Earle Gentry left his home to continue his education in Huntsville, riding by horseback from his parents’ farm to Huntsville about twenty-five miles away. He earned his room and board by working for Professor Estill, a professor at the Sam Houston Normal Institute (today known as Sam Houston State University). Young Earle slept on a cot on the back porch and performed chores for the professor, including milking and taking care of everything on the property. With some assistance from Professor Estill, who was head of the college at that time, Earle was able to get into college. The professor gave him books which had the answers that he needed to qualify for college.18 He was attending college when America entered War World I.
On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and thereby entered the first World War that had been raging in Europe since 1914. Soon thereafter, many young men from Montgomery County enthusiastically began enlisting in the military, with one local company photographed as it mustered at the courthouse square in Conroe.19 The June 28, 1917 edition of the Conroe Courier reported that the “advanced guard” of U. S. soldiers had arrived in France. These soldiers and marines were trained veterans who had served along the Mexican border, in Hatti, and in Santo Domingo. The Conroe Courier further reported that two local Montgomery County men were among this group—Clarence Crooke and David Horger.20 A year later the Conroe Courier would report that several of Montgomery County’s young men had died in military action.
Because Earle Gentry had injured his ankle, he did not immediately enlist with other young men in his community. He taught school in Williamson County, Texas, for a short time and then returned home to enlist in the Army in 1918.21 According to his enlistment records, he was inducted into the Army as a private on February 25, 1918, three months shy of his 22nd birthday.
After serving in various Army units stateside, including an assignment at the Infantry Replacement and Training Troops Camp, he received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the infantry on October 15, 1918.22 This was shortly before the Armistice of November 18, 1918. He was therefore never assigned overseas. His stateside assignments included Camp Pike, Arkansas and Camp Sherman, Ohio. He was honorably discharged from the Army on September 5, 1919.23
Earle Gentry was born just a few years before the county seat was moved from his hometown of Montgomery to Conroe. Upon his discharge from the service in 1919, he returned to his parents’ home and taught for a short time in a little country school.24 When he moved to Conroe later that year, there were approximately 2300 people living there. The town’s main industry was the timber business.25 He was employed by the Delta Land and Timber Company, which operated a large sawmill in Conroe. He served as a fire prevention and safety officer for the mill. It was during this time that he met the young woman who would become his wife—Iola Boynton Everett.26
Iola Everett was the only daughter of Henry Bascom Everett, a former railroad employee who had opened the successful Everett’s Cash and Carry mercantile store with his sons on Simonton Street in Conroe several years before. When Earle Gentry asked Mr. Everett for his
daughter’s hand in marriage, Mr. Everett declined. He refused to have his city-bred, well-educated daughter living a hard life on a farm. It was only when Earle promised that Iola would never have to live on a farm that Mr. Everett relented. Iola and Earle were married in 1923 while he was working at the Delta Sawmill. His new father-in-law soon employed Earle in what was by then known as the Everett and Sons General Store in downtown Conroe.27
Earle’s typical working day at the Everett store started at least by 6 A.M. where he would sweep it out, clean the fruit, get the cheeses out and sack some sugar, beans, and rice, all of which were in big bins. He would open the store by 7 A.M. He recalled when interviewed in 1986 that he would “sell a dime’s worth or a dollar’s worth.”28
Over the next several years, Earle Gentry distinguished himself by his service in the Conroe community. He was a charter member of the Conroe Rotary Club and the Conroe Chamber of Commerce. As a charter member of the Conroe Chamber, he helped with its early organization and served as its third president. He had a pivotal role in the local American Legion and the VFW. He was also active in the local Masonic Lodge, an organization that included many of the civic leaders of the community at that time. He was a 33rd degree Mason who had been honored in the Order of the Silver Trowel.29
Soon after he married Iola, he also joined the Conroe Volunteer Fire Department. He recalled that they had no fire equipment other than an old pushcart with two big wheels with a hose wrapped around it. It was during this time that he persuaded the City Council to purchase a big American LeFrance pumper truck in 1925 at the cost of about $12,000.30
Earle Gentry was one of the first fire chiefs for the Conroe Volunteer Fire Department. While he was employed as a safety officer at the Delta Sawmill in Conroe’s “Mill Town,” he studied fire prevention and fire safety techniques. He was elected fire chief in 1924 and volunteered his time with the volunteer fire department. He trained many of Conroe’s volunteer fire fighters. For many years thereafter, many of the old timers called him “Chief.”31
In 1926, he was elected to the City Council and served until elected mayor in 1938. During his tenure on city council, the City was finally served with electricity by a Louisiana electric company, later known as Gulf States Electric. Until that time, electricity in the city was operated by generators, and houses were served by drop lights that dropped down from two wires.32
During the early 1900s the only way to reach Houston was by train or by driving along the dirt roads. The only state and city roads were dirt and rutted. Earle Gentry was one of several local businessmen who promoted a new State Highway 105 running through Conroe to Austin. Trips to Austin and Houston were part of the effort necessary to persuade the Texas Legislature to build a road that would connect Conroe to Beaumont to the east and to Navasota to the west. Part of their challenge was to also persuade property owners to give rights-of-way for the new road; most of whom were happy to do so in order to make their property more accessible and thereby more valuable.33
Earle Gentry continued to work for his father-in-law until 1939. At that time, he sold his interest in Everett’s store and rented space from Tony Rossner down the street to open his new men’s clothing store at the corner of Main and Simonton Streets.34 In 1965, Mr. Gentry purchased the building from Mr. Rosner’s widow and over time it became known as the Gentry Building.35
Gentry’s Men’s Store offered name brand men’s apparel and was at that time the most popular men’s clothing store in Montgomery County. As was his custom, he was up by 5:30 A.M. every morning to eat breakfast and open the store. Whether he was cleaning the store, washing the windows or redecorating, he did most of the work himself. The store would remain open until about 6 P.M. Saturdays were always busy days in downtown Conroe with many people coming into town to shop and enjoy the local activities around the courthouse square.36
Retired Conroe businessman, Fred Greer, worked for Mr. Gentry as a teenager, and later while he was in college. Fred remembered Mr Earle’s remarkable generosity to everyone he met. Mr. Gentry extended credit to many people, some of whom Fred believed probably never paid him. But Mr. Earle had an innocent trust in people and always assumed they would honor their obligations.
Fred Greer recalled that Mr. Gentry kept a top line of men’s clothing in his store. He sold Stetson hats and quality suits. During the Christmas season, it was not uncommon for him to hire six to eight teenagers for the season, usually to help them have some holiday spending money. For years, Gentry’s Men Store was the best store of its kind in Conroe.37 Prominent and wealthy patron, Ms. Lady Hooper Schaefer, was known for spending a lot of money at Mr. Gentry’s store. She purchased hats and suits for the men in her family. Anne Gentry recalled that she spent money in the store like a “drunken sailor.” Local merchants like Earle Gentry enjoyed her generosity. 38
Several of the locals recall when Elvis Presley performed in Conroe with the Louisiana Hayride in August 1955. He performed at what was at that time the Conroe high school football field off Pacific Street and stayed at the former Blue Bird Courts on Frazier Street. While in town, he purchased a couple of sport shirts at Gentry’s Men’s Shop, much to the delight of Norman, the high school student who waited on him.39
Everyone liked and respected Mr. Earle. Former Conroe business owner, Robin Bartholet, recalled that life in Conroe in the 1960s and 1970’s was much slower and laid back. It was a common practice during the business day for Earle Gentry to join his friends, Jim Talley and Tony Rosner at the Capitol Drug Store to drink coffee with the drugstore manager, Myron Coleman. There they would discuss and debate current national and local news and, of course, politics.40
For many years in the early 1900’s. Mrs. Iola Gentry taught drama and speech at JOH Bennette High School in Conroe. In her 1986 interview, Mrs. Gentry recalled the social life in Conroe involved tea parties, showers, and literary clubs. There were also circuses that came to town with strange elephants and monkeys, and other circus marvels.41
Conroe was an ideal community to raise a family during what was a relatively tranquil time. Earle Gentry’s daughter, Anne Gentry Moore, fondly recalled Conroe in her youth as a small little country town where children were safe to freely run around town. They knew that if they misbehaved, their parents would know about it before they returned home. When people picked up the phone and rang a three-digit telephone number, the switchboard operator on the other end would connect them to their relative or friend.42
The countywide population, which had reached 17,334 in 1920, fell over the next decade and by 1930 had dropped to 14,588. The decline in the timber industry came at an unfortunate moment for the county: by 1930 the impact of the nationwide Great Depression began to be felt. Within a short time, the ranks of the jobless swelled enormously. Particularly hard hit were the county’s farmers, who were forced to endure the combined effects of falling prices, soil depletion, and boll weevil infestations. Those with large landholdings were able to weather the hard times, but many of the county’s legions of tenant farmers and sharecroppers were forced off the land. Between 1930 and 1940 the number of farms in the county fell sharply, from 1,773 to 1,385, and as many as a third of all tenants had to seek other work opportunities.43
The county, however, experienced a dramatic reversal of fortune in 1932, when oil was discovered southeast of Conroe. In August 1931, wildcatter George William Strake began drilling a test well 6 1/2 miles southeast of Conroe and on December 13 that year he struck oil. By June 1932, Strake had brought in a second, even larger well, which was producing more than 900 barrels daily. The discovery immediately triggered a tremendous oil boom. Within days, thousands of fortune-seekers, wildcatters, financiers, roughnecks, and hangers-on flooded the area. The population of Conroe, estimated at 2,500 in December 1931, mushroomed to more than 10,000 within a few months. At the beginning of 1933 more than 100 wells had been drilled, and more that 25,000 barrels per day were being produced. By the end of the year the number of producing wells had grown to 679, and the daily output was more than 52,000 barrels.44
Oil was subsequently discovered in several other areas of the county, and the combined oilfields of Montgomery County made it one of the richest oil producing areas in the nation. Although the Gentry family, like the vast majority of Montgomery County residents, did not benefit directly from the oil discovery, oil money contributed to a general prosperity that helped offset the worst effects of the depression. Proceeds from the oil also helped to remake the face of the county. Roads were graded and paved, new schools were built, and public buildings and monuments erected.45 Conroe experienced a construction boom as numerous new buildings, banks, offices, and homes were erected with oil money. Swelled by the oil boom, the population of the county grew by nearly 10,000 between 1930 and 1940, increasing from 14,588 to 23,055. The prosperity continued during the years of World War II.46
The Conroe oil boom brought thousands of men to the town. Many were vagrants, simply looking for a handout or ways to get into trouble with the law. But many were engineers, accountants, and educated individuals looking for a place to stay. It was common for local town people to make extra money by boarding these newcomers to Conroe. Because there were many unsavory men in town during the oil boom, the Texas Rangers were called in and women were told to stay off the streets, particularly at night. Anne Gentry recalled that Bonnie and Clyde reportedly came to town on at least one occasion to purchase warm clothing at the Conroe stores during a blue northern. Clyde’s cousin Dude Barrow lived in town, so his gang was on its best behavior while in Conroe.47
Earle Gentry was elected Conroe mayor in 1938 and was serving as Conroe mayor when America entered World War II in December 1941.48 Instinctively he felt it was his duty to again serve his country in the military, even though he was 46 years old and was too old for the military draft. Leaving his wife Iola, their daughter Anne, and his successful clothing store business, he reenlisted in the Army in 1942 and thereupon received a commission as a Captain.49 He served in the military police as a commander in a German prisoner of war camp in France during the war.
After the war, Earle returned to his family in Conroe to resume the operation of his clothing store on Main Street which Iola had managed during his absence.50 Soon after returning home, he was again elected Conroe mayor and served from 1948 to 1950.51 But he kept an Army reserve commission for years thereafter. On October 14, 1952, he was formally commissioned as a Reserve Commissioned Officer with the rank of Major.52
Mr. Gentry’s granddaughters—Susie Pokorski, Bonnie Hanley, and Nancy McLemore— affectionately called him “Pappy.” They described him as an old-fashioned gentleman, altruistic and romantic. His faith and typical 19th century values were expressed in his lifestyle, which was simple, steadfast, and relatively unsophisticated. He was a man known for his faith in God and in people. He held relationships with family and friends in the highest regard. Like many men of his generation, they recall that he held women in high esteem and valued truth above all. Character, honesty, and integrity were the cornerstones of his life. This was a time which some might call “the age of gentility.” Doors were not locked and people in the community knew and trusted each other.53
Always idealistic, his granddaughters recall that Mr. Gentry remained passionately patriotic, and politically a liberal Southern Democrat. He maintained a lifelong friendship with future U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson. His daughter Anne Gentry Moore recalled that on more than one occasion, then U.S. Senator Johnson would visit his friend Earle Gentry in Conroe. They would either retire to Earle’s upstairs office above his store for an alcoholic beverage (or two) or walk down Simonton Street to Talley’s Domino Hall. There, Senator Johnson and his good friend Earle would drink beer and discuss politics with the locals as they were playing domino games like “42” and “Moon” in the smoke-filled, men-only domino parlor.54
Earle Gentry had a reputation for being morally straight, but his granddaughters remember him as being somewhat naive, always believing in the inherent good of mankind “as made in the image of God.” Yet he was an experienced soldier who had seen two World Wars and many immoralities and tragedies during the time his granddaughters knew him. Like most seasoned military veterans, Mr. Earle spoke very little of his military experiences. But they knew something of his service in both world wars.55
Always chivalrous, Mr. Earle never understood the Women’s Liberation Movement according to his granddaughters. He held women in very high regard and with great respect for their skills in childrearing, homemaking, teaching, and instilling moral values in their husbands and children. He was a “hand kisser who took his hat off and bowed to the ladies as an ordinary practice.” He always stood respectfully when they entered a room. Though a product of the racial attitudes of his time and region, he offered at least some of these courtesies to African American women as well. He often wondered why any woman would want to lower herself to be equal to a man. Modern attitudes seemed to pass him by, but he rarely noticed.56
An important aspect of Mr. Gentry’s character, according to his granddaughters, was his Christian faith. Growing up the son of a strict German Lutheran mother, and a principled but not particularly religious father, he was described as an easy going but devoted believer in God’s ultimate goodness and mercy. Joining the Methodist Church in Conroe after his marriage to his wife Iola, he was a faithful participant in church activities, as were many of his generation.57
His granddaughters describe him as a “man’s man” in many ways, always ready to hunt deer, watch boxing, or football games on TV, or talk about politics or business, all of which he assumed were male territories. He believed in doing one’s part for one’s community, which included participating in government, church and civic organizations. Mr. Gentry saw a sacred beauty in all of nature. He loved farming but spent his professional life as a merchant to fulfill a promise to his father-in-law not to take Iola from the city to live on a farm.58
Not having much desire to travel, Earle Gentry spent most of his life in Montgomery County and considered himself blessed to call it home. His greatest love was his family, especially his wife Iola Boynton Everett Gentry, his mother Antoinette Gentry, his daughter Anne Gentry Moore, and his three granddaughters. He valued education, tradition, honesty, refinement, and was a true gentleman in every way.59
Thomas Earle Gentry died on April 17, 1987, only three weeks short of his 91st birthday. He was a true patriot who thought America was sacred and that service to his country was the highest calling a man could have. He was one of the most respected and influential leaders in Conroe during his life—serving his God, his country, his family and his community with distinction for over seven decades. As the noted journalist and author Tom Brokaw described the men and women who served during World War II, Mr. Earle was unquestionably a very special member of America’s “greatest generation.”
Story submitted by Larry Foerster
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END NOTES
1. Interview of Thomas Earle Gentry and wife Iola Gentry on December 8, 1986 by Janie and Walter Sargeant for The Institute of Texas Cultures Oral History Program.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Christopher Long, “Montgomery County,” The Handbook of Texas Online, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm17/ [Accessed July 9. 2017]; William Harley Gandy, “A History of Montgomery County, Texas” (M.A. thesis, University of Houston, 1952), 168-177
6. Recollections of Thomas Earle Gentry by his granddaughters, as shared by his granddaughter Susie Moore Pokorski, dated June 5, 2017
7. Christopher Long, “Montgomery County,” The Handbook of Texas Online, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm17/ [Accessed July 9. 2017]; Robin Navarro Montgomery, The History of Montgomery County (Austin: Jenkins,1975), 23-28
8. “Montgomery County,” Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide 1914 (The Galveston-Dallas News), 314
9. Robin Navarro Montgomery, The History of Montgomery County (Austin: Jenkins,1975), 23-28; Larry L. Foerster, Montgomery County, Texas Historical Timeline (HPN Books, San Antonio, Texas, January 2014)
10. Ibid.
11. Larry L. Foerster, Montgomery County, Texas Historical Timeline (HPN Books, San Antonio, Texas, January 2014)
12. Ibid.
13. Christopher Long, “Montgomery County,” The Handbook of Texas Online, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm17/ [Accessed July 9. 2017]; William Harley Gandy, “A History of Montgomery County, Texas” (M.A. thesis, University of Houston, 1952), 195-199.
14. Christopher Long, “Montgomery County,” The Handbook of Texas Online, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm17/ [Accessed July 9. 2017]
15. Christopher Long, “Montgomery County,” The Handbook of Texas Online, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm17/ [Accessed July 9. 2017]; Larry L. Foerster, Montgomery County, Texas Historical Timeline (HPN Books, San Antonio, Texas, January 2014)
16. Interview of Thomas Earle Gentry and wife Iola Gentry on December 8, 1986 by Janie and Walter Sargeant for The Institute of Texas Cultures Oral History Program.
17. Robin N. Montgomery, “A Century of the Gentry,” November 13, 2011 edition of The Courier; Larry L. Foerster, Montgomery County, Texas Historical Timeline (HPN Books, San Antonio, Texas, January 2014)
18. Interview of Thomas Earle Gentry and wife Iola Gentry on December 8, 1986 by Janie and Walter Sargeant for The Institute of Texas Cultures Oral History Program.
19. “Conroe Boys Go To War,” April 12, 1917 edition of The Conroe Courier.
20. “U.S. Soldiers Now in Europe,” June 28, 1917 edition of The Conroe Courier.
21. Interview of Thomas Earle Gentry and wife Iola Gentry on December 8, 1986 by Janie and Walter Sargeant for The Institute of Texas Cultures Oral History Program.
22 Thomas E. Gentry, World War I Military Enlistment Registration Card, Form No. 724-2, A.G.O November 22, 1919.
23. Thomas E. Gentry, World War I Military Officer Registration Card, Form No.84-d-1 A.G.O. March 17, 1921.
24. Interview of Thomas Earle Gentry and wife Iola Gentry on December 8, 1986 by Janie and Walter Sargeant for The Institute of Texas Cultures Oral History Program.
25. Larry L. Foerster, Montgomery County, Texas Historical Timeline (HPN Books, San Antonio, Texas, January 2014).
26. Interview of Thomas Earle Gentry and wife Iola Gentry on December 8, 1986 by Janie and Walter Sargeant for The Institute of Texas Cultures Oral History Program.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.
29. Robin N. Montgomery, “A Century of the Gentry,” November 13, 2011 edition of The Courier; Recollections of Thomas Earle Gentry by his granddaughters, as shared by his granddaughter Susie Moore Pokorski, dated June 5, 2017
30. Interview of Thomas Earle Gentry and wife Iola Gentry on December 8, 1986 by Janie and Walter Sargeant for The Institute of Texas Cultures Oral History Program.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
34. Ibid.
35 “Warranty Deed with Vendor’s Lien,” dated January 1, 1965, from Fannie C. Rosner, widow and surviving wife of T. Rosner, deceased, to T. E Gentry, as recorded at Volume 558, Page 547 of the Real Property Records of the County Clerk of Montgomery County, Texas.
36, Interview of Thomas Earle Gentry and wife Iola Gentry on December 8, 1986 by Janie and Walter Sargeant for The Institute of Texas Cultures Oral History Program.
37. Recollections of Mr. Gentry shared with the author by Fred Greer in September 2016
38. Video interview of Anne Gentry Moore by her daughter, Bonnie Handley, June 2011, for the Oral History Project of the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County, Texas, Inc.
39. “Our Town,” recollections of Conroe, Texas, by the Conroe High School graduates of the Class of 1960; Larry L. Foerster, Montgomery County, Texas Historical Timeline (HPN Books, San Antonio, Texas, January 2014)
40. Recollections of Mr. Gentry shared with the author by Robin Bartholet in September 2016.
41. Interview of Thomas Earle Gentry and wife Iola Gentry on December 8, 1986 by Janie and Walter Sargeant for The Institute of Texas Cultures Oral History Program.
42. Video interview of Anne Gentry Moore by her daughter, Bonnie Handley, June 2011, for the Oral History Project of the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County, Texas, Inc.
43. Christopher Long, “Montgomery County,” The Handbook of Texas Online, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm17/ [Accessed July 9. 2017]
44. Christopher Long, “Montgomery County,” The Handbook of Texas Online, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm17/ [Accessed July 9. 2017]; Larry L. Foerster, Montgomery County, Texas Historical Timeline (HPN Books, San Antonio, Texas, January 2014)
45. Ibid.
46. Ibid.
47. Video interview of Anne Gentry Moore by her daughter, Bonnie Handley, June 2011, for the Oral History Project of the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County, Texas, Inc.
48. “List of Conroe City Mayors Past to Present” from the official Conroe, Texas records of the Conroe city secretary, dated April 11, 2017
49. Interview of Thomas Earle Gentry and wife Iola Gentry on December 8, 1986 by Janie and Walter Sargeant for The Institute of Texas Cultures Oral History Program.
50. Ibid.
51. “List of Conroe City Mayors Past to Present” from the official Conroe, Texas records of the Conroe city secretary, dated April 11, 2017
52. Army of the United States officer commissioning certificate of Thomas Earle Gentry as a Reserve Commissioned Officer with the rank of Major, dated October 14, 1952.
53. Recollections of Thomas Earle Gentry by his granddaughters, as shared by his granddaughter Susie Moore Pokorski, dated June 5, 2017
54. Interview of Anne Gentry Moore by Larry L. Foerster, April 2011.
55. Recollections of Thomas Earle Gentry by his granddaughters, as shared by his granddaughter Susie Moore Pokorski, dated June 5, 2017
56. Ibid.
57. Ibid.
58. Ibid.
59. Ibid.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Army of the United States officer commissioning certificate of Thomas Earle Gentry as a Reserve Commissioned Officer with the rank of Major, dated October 14, 1952.
Christopher Long, “Montgomery County,” The Handbook of Texas Online, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm17/ [Accessed July 9. 2017].
“Conroe Boys Go To War,” April 12, 1917 edition of The Conroe Courier.
“Crops In County Are Looking Fine,” July 10, 2013 edition of The Conroe Courier.
Interview of Anne Gentry Moore by Larry L. Foerster, April 2011.
Interview of Thomas Earel Gentry and wife Iola Gentry on December 8, 1986 by Janie and Walter Sargeant for The Institute of Texas Cultures Oral History Program.
Larry L. Foerster, Montgomery County, Texas Historical Timeline (HPN Books, San Antonio, Texas, January 2014)
“List of Conroe City Mayors Past to Present” from the official Conroe, Texas records of the Conroe city secretary, dated April 11, 2017
“Our Town,” recollections of Conroe, Texas, by the Conroe High School graduates of the Class of 1960.
Recollections of Thomas Earle Gentry by his granddaughters, as shared by his granddaughter Susie Moore Pokorski, dated June 5, 2017
Recollections of Thomas Earle Gentry shared with the author by Fred Greer in September 2016
Recollections of Thomas Earle Gentry shared with the author by Robin Bartholet in September 2016.
Robin N. Montgomery, “A Century of the Gentry,” November 13, 2011 edition of The Courier.
Robin Navarro Montgomery, The History of Montgomery County (Austin: Jenkins,1975)
Video interview of Anne Gentry Moore by her daughter Bonnie Handley, June 2011, for the Oral History Project of the Heritage Museum of Montgomery, County, Texas, Inc.
William Harley Gandy, “A History of Montgomery County, Texas” (M.A. thesis, University of Houston, 1952)
“U.S. Soldiers Now in Europe,” June 28, 1917 edition of The Conroe Courier.